Cuspidor



(No Model.)

W. WESTLAKE.

Ouspidor.

No. 242,496, I Patented June 7,188].

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N. PETERS. PhflwLilhographer. Wishinginn. 0,6.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WVILLIAM \VESTLAKE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

CUSPIDOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,496, dated June 7, 1881,

Application filed March 30, 1881.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM WEs'rLAKE, of the city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ouspidors,ofwhich the following is a specification.

The present invention has for its object to prevent ouspidors or spittoons from being overturned or upset when subjected to the incidents atteudin g the ordinary use of such vessels; and it consists, broadly, in a cuspidor provided with a flat stiff plate or piece attached to its bottom part, and extending beyond the body of the cuspidor, so as to form a base-plate or platform resting upon the floor or carpet and sustaining the cuspidor; also, in a cuspidor in which the attached base-plate or supporting-platform extending laterally beyond the body of the cuspidor is made removable.

Herctofore the bottoms of cuspidors have been loaded or weighted to assist to keep them in an upright position. This has been done sometimes by making the lower part of the cuspidor of heavier metal than the upper parts and sometimes by making the lower part of two thicknesses of metal or other material, leaving a proper space between them and filling this space with metallic filings or other heavy materials. These constructions are much more expensive than a cuspidor made from a single thickness of sheet metal, and are liable under certain circumstances to be upset.

The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view, in perspective, of a cuspidor with an extended base-plate or platform. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section. of the same, showing the attachment of the cuspidor and its base-plate or platform; and Fig. 3 is a central vertical section, showing a modified way of attaching the cuspidor to its baseplate adapted to frangible material.

In the drawings, A represents a cuspidor, which may be of the ordinary or any other desired shape and size, and may be made from any material suitable for the purpose. It is conveniently and economically formed of sheet metal by spinning or striking up the metal in three pieces-two for the body and the third for the mouthand soldering them together.

(No model.)

B is a base-plate or platform attached to the bottom of the cuspidor A in such manner that when the under side of the plate rests upon the floor or carpet the cuspidor will be in an upright position. This plate or platform may be made from a great variety of materials; but'it is preferred to make itot' sheet metal of such thickness thatit will not be easily bent out of shape or bruised or jammed by ordinary usage or in transportation, and its edge should be re-enforced by bending the metal over or by inserting a wire in the usual way, so as to prevent the edge from tearing or catching in the carpet and from bein gdistorted and jammed by being violently pushed or kicked against the walls of the room or articles of furniture.

The base-plate or platform should be of such rigidity or stifi'ness that it will not easily be doubled up or folded upon itself, as would be the case if made of carpeting, oil-cloth, or india-rubber, as set forth in Letters Patent No. 125,641, of April 9, 1872, which construction would not fulfill the purpose of the present invention, which is to prevent the overturning of the cuspidor by the rigid and unyielding nature of the platform. Preferably the edge or rim of the plate should be slightly lower than its central part, in order to insure a close contact of the edge with the floor.

In order to effectually prevent the upsetting of the cuspidor the base-plate B should be about double in diameter that of the largest diameter of the cuspidor; but the relative size of the plate may be much less than that given and more than reasonable security against upsetting be secured.

The plate or platform B may be permanently secured to the cuspidor by soldering or otherwise; but for convenience in packing and transportation, as well as in cleaning the cuspidors, it is desirable that the plate or plat form should be secured so as to be readily detachable. This can be easily done by inserting in a socket in the bottom of the cuspidor a female screw, a, and by attaching a corresponding male screw, 1), to the center of the plate B, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

If it is desired to make the cuspidor of frangible material, as china or earthen ware, and to make the plate or platform detachable, a lug or projection may be molded on the bottom of the cuspidor, preferably dovetailed in shape, and a screw, 0, cemented thereto, which can be united with afemale screw, (7, on the base-plate. In such case the central portion of the bottom of the cuspidor should be concaved, so that the screw 0 will be above the general level of the bottom.

In addition to the almost perfect protection which this construction afl'ords to the overturning of the cuspidor, it is readily seen that the extended base-plate will become the receptacle of many articles which are usually aimed at but miss the mouth of the cuspidor, and that the floor or carpet will be for this reason more fully protected from being soiled or burned by cigar stumps or ashes; also, the edge of the plate or platform, by reason of its lateral projection beyond the cuspidor will alone come in contact with the walls of the room and articles of furniture when the cuspidor is kicked or pushed about, and thus the body and mouth will be protected from being bruised or bent, as is often the case with the usual constructions.

By tastefully decorating the upper surface of the plate or platform or nickel or silver plating it when made ofsuitable material and uniting it with acuspidor substantially as described, a highly ornamental, durable, and reliable artiole is produced.

What is claimed as new is-- 1. A cuspidor provided with a flat rigid base-plate or platform secured to its bottom and extended laterally beyond its body, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A cuspidor provided with a fiat rigid base-plate or platform detachably secured to its bottom andextending laterally beyond its body, substautiallyas and forthe purpose de scribed.

\VILLIAM WESTLAKE.

Witnesses:

JAMES P. iuizmrr'r, BENT. A. SMITH. 

